Boxoffice-January.10.1953

However,
—
The EXHIBITOR HAS HIS SAY
(Continued from preceding pa«e)
S. Klein, Astra Theatre, Kitwe-Nkana, Northem
Rhodesia. Africa. Government, mining
and business patronage.
Blue Veil, The (RKO) — Jane Wyman.
Charle-s Laughton. Joan Blondell. This is an
excellent drama that brought forth a few
tears. Our patrons were well pleased and
a.sked for more like it. Played Sat., Sun.—
C. E. Bermewitz, Royal Theatre. Royalton,
Minn. Small-town and rural patronage.
Drums In the Deep South (RKO)—James
Craig, Barbara Payton, Guy Madison. This
was very well received. Crowds and all comments
were favorable. It was worth the playing
time. Played Mon., Tues., Wed. Weather:
Clear and cool.—Tom Hetherington, Musicland
Theatre, Kaslo, B. C. Small-town and
rural patronage.
Tembo (RKO 1—Expeditionary crew and natives.
All I can say is that if anyone doesn't
see this wild animal picture in color of
Howai-d Hill using only a bow and arrow, he
will miss a good show. Comment and draw
were both good here. Played Fri.. Sat.
Weather: Cold.—L. Brazil jr.. New Theatre,
Bearden, Ark. Small-town and nu-al patronage.
Thing From Another World, The (RKO)—
Kermeth Tobey, Margaret Sheridan, James
Young. It's old as the hills but they still have
all the "scare" in it and you'll do outstanding
business on a poor change. When the
Thing made his first appearance it was every
man for himself if you were standing in the
aisle and the little guys sitting down front
almost tore the backs off the seats as they
headed for the security of mama's lap. Those
who ventured in by themselves bought a
lot of popcorn every time the Thing came
on the screen. We had to escort some of
them home. Played Wed., Thurs. Weather:
Windy.—Bob Walker, Uintah Theatre, Fruita,
Colo. Small-town and rural patronage.
REPUBLIC
Mountain Rhythm (Rep)—Reissue. Leon
Good
Weaver, Frank Weaver, June Weaver.
little reissue. If your folks go for "com" play
this with a weak "A" feature and satisfy your
patrons. Played Sun., Mon. Weather: Fair.—
George Kelloff, Ute Theatre, Aguilar. Colo.
Small-town and rural patronage.
Woman of the North Country (Rep)—Ruth
Hussey, Rod Cameron, John Agar. Believe
the action fans were well pleased. Heard no
kicks. The story, at least, was different.
Can't say I like Ti-ucolor. Played Tues., Wed.
Weather: O. K.—Frank E. Sabin, Majestic
Theatre, Eureka. Mont. Small-town and
rural patronage.
20th
CENTURY-FOX
Belles on Their Toes (20th-Fox)—Jeanne
Crain, Myrna Loy, Debra Paget. We had the
African premiere for this one and they don't
come any more delightful. Packed houses
applauded this excellent Technicolor film
that 20th-Fox does so well. We all would like
to see more of these films with that splendid
cast. Play it—you will do very good business
in any situation. Played Thurs., Fri., Sat.
Weather: Fine.—Dave S. Klein, Astra Theatre,
Kitwe-Nkana, Africa. Government, mining
and business patronage.
Diplomatic Courier (20th-Fox) — Tyrone
Power, Hildegarde Neff, Stephen McNally.
Another one from Fox that you do not have
to be afraid of. But, I'm sorry to say that
business was just average. Play it. Played
Thurs.. Fri., Sat. Weather: Rain.—Harold
Bell. Opera House Theatre, Coaticook, Que.
Small-town and rural patronage.
Dreamboat (20th-Fox) — Clifton Webb.
Ginger Rogers, Anne Francis. Pretty good
program but nothing big about it. Business
was below average. Played midweek.—D. B.
Fiske, Fi.ske Theatre, Oak Grove, La. Also
Lake and Lake Drive-In, Lake Providence,
La. Small-town and rural patronage.
Lure of the Wilderness (20th-Fox) — Jean
V Peters. Jeffrey Hunter, Walter Brennan.
Everything about this one is tops. Comments
good and it had a fair draw. I think it would
have done better had I not played it so late.
It had already played around me. This was
my fault though as I pulled my early date
to play another big pictiu-e. Played Tues.,
Wed. Weather: O.K.—Lloyd Hutchins, Center
Theatre. Kensett, Ark. Riu-al patronage.
Pony Soldier (20th -Fox)—Tyrone Power,
Cameron Mitchell, Thomas Gomez. Technicolor
a big asset. Exploited as a Northwest
Mounted Police picture. Business was good.
Played Tues., through Tues. Weather: Cold
with some snow.—Richard D. Empey, Granada
Theatre, Duluth, Minn. General average
city patronage.
Pride of St. Louis, The (20th-Fox)—We
played this one late, but people were asking
for it, .so we decided "better late than never."
They Liked This One
In Bearden
f-«ARBINE \\TLLIAMS (MGM) Barnes
^ Stewart, Wendell Corey, Jean Hagen.
A true picture about a man who was put
in prison for using a gun and got out by
using a gun! Should have an award as
one of the best pictures of the year. Played
Sun., Mon. Weather: Cold.—L. Brazil jr..
New Theatre, Bearden, Ark. Small-town
and rural patronage.
It is hard to judge the merits of a picture at
a time like this. As our minister said only
yesterday, "These are not normal times."
this is all beside
How right he was !
the point. The picture is good—very good
and should draw wherever there are baseball
fans—everywhere! Played Sun., Mon.
Weather: Cold !—Marcella Smith, Vinton
Theatre, McArthm-. Ohio. Small-town and
rural patronage.
UNITED ARTISTS
Second Woman, The (UA)—(Released in
Africa under the title "Ellen.") Robert Young,
Betsy Drake, John Sutton. Quite a nice suspenseful
movie. Nothing great, but good entertainment.
Star value here with good performances.
Might be too heavy for really
small towns. Played Fi-i., Sat. Weather:
Fine.—Dave S. Klein, Astra Theatre, Kitwe-
Nkana, Northern Rhodesia. Africa. Government,
mining and business patronage.
Two Gals and a Guy (UA)—Robert Alda,
Janis Paige. James Gleason. This is just the
kind of stuff that is keeping people sitting by
their TV sets. This is terrible—no story, no
acting, nothing. They build the Three Sons
in the trailer, and they do play a numberno,
I guess they start several, but they never
get through the first line of the music. That
is a shame because there is a bare possibility
they could have saved the picture. Played
Suii.. Mon. (double bill). Weather: Rain.—
Lloyd Hutchins. Center Theatre, Kensett,
Ark. Riu-al patronage.
UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL
Blue Lagoon, The lU-D—Jean Simmons.
Donald Houston. Noel Purcell. In my opinion
this is one of the best pictm-es ever to hit my
screen. We packed them in at all performances
and everybody was happy—including
me. Played Thurs.. Fri., Sat. Weather: Rain.
—Tom Hetherington, Musicland Theatre,
Kaslo, B. C. Small-town and rural patronage.
Groom Wore Spurs, The (U-D—Ginger
Rogers, Jack Carson, Joan Davis. This comfortable
little laugh-getter seemed to please
most of those who took a chance and. when
we got through balancing the expense sheet,
we had just nosed over out of the pink. It's
worth a date if you haven't a lot of highpowered
product in a backlog. Played Wed.,
Thurs. Weather: Nice.—Bob Walker, Uintah
Tlieatre. Fruita, Colo. Small-town and rural
patronage.
Just Across the Street (U-I)—Ann Sheridan,.
John Lund, Robert Keith. Another
great one from Universal. Boy, when it comes
to giving out a good all-round family comedy
just leave it to Universal. We had very
good crowds every night we played this one.
If you haven't played it yet I would suggest
you take it. Played Mon.. Tues., Wed.
Weather: Wet.—Tom Hetherington, Musicland
Theatre, Kaslo, B. C. Small-town and
rural patronage.
Lady From Texas (U-I)—Josephine Hull,
Howard Duff. Mona Freeman. This one surprised
me. It was so good I was sorry I double
billed it on a Friday-Saturday. Jasephine Hull
stole the pictiu-e—or perhaps she was supposed
to? Anyhow, one could tell she had
been in the legitimate theatre (why do they
call it legitimate?) as her acting was certainly
smoother than the rest of the cast. I hope
she will appear in future pictures. Don't pass
this one up if you are looking for a good comedy.
Weather: Just weather.—Marcella Smith,
Vinton Theatre, McArthur, Ohio. Small-town
and rural patronage.
WARNER BROS.
Bugles in the Afternoon (WB)-Ray Milland.
Helena Carter, Hugh Marlowe. Have
been playing too many of these cavalry pictures
lately, especially as the other exhibitor
in om- town is giving his shirt away to get
business. Played Thiu-s., Fri. Sat.—Harold
Bell, Opera House Theatre. Coaticook, Que.
Small-town and rural patronage.
I Was a Communist for the F.B.I. (WB)—
Prank Lovejoy, Dorothy Hart, Philip Carey.
Too bad so few showed up. This is a fine
show that all adults and teenagers should
see. Well made. A gripping story. Played
Tues.. Wed.—Fi-ank E. Sabin, Majestic Theatre,
Eureka, Mont. Small-town and rural
patronage.
She's Working Her Way Through College
I WBi—Virginia Mayo, Ronald Reagan, Gene
Nel.son. Good musical comedy that did above
average business. All comments favorable.
Should please everyone. Played Midweek.
Weather: Good.—D. B. Fiske, Fiske Theatre,
Oak Grove, La. Also Lake and Lake Drive-
In, Lake Providence, La. Small-town and
rural patronage.
Where's Charley? (WB)—Ray Bolger, Allyn
McLerie, Robert Shackleton. A nice film
that did average business. This one is a little
on the English side which might not help
.some of you. Played Thurs., Fri.. Sat.
Weather: Rain.—Harold Bell, Opera House
Theatre, Coaticook, Que. Small-town and
rural patronage.
White Heat (WB)—James Cagney, Virginia
Mayo, Edmond O'Brien. There is just no
stopping James Cagney in this crime-thriller.
Plenty of action, gun battles and just a dash
of savage love with Virginia Mayo as the
moll-gal. Warner's trailer is a ticket seller.
Played Sim., Mon. Weather: Cool and fair.
—James Wiggs jr.. Tar Theatre. Tarboro, N.
C. Small mill-town and rural patronage.
BOXOFFICE BookinGuide Jan. 10, 1953